Page 21 of My Addiction
“What do you mean?”
“We can do questions later. It’s 6:30.”
I take Ollie’s tray over to the eating area. Thank God for Mom. She sent a high chair over. Colton follows me with the two plates I made for us and sets them down.
“You get Ollie, and I’ll get drinks. You want wine or soda?”
“Water is fine.” He’s staring at the high chair and tray.
By the time I get back with two glasses of water for us and a sippy cup for Ollie, he’s buckling Ollie into the chair.
“Did you make this for him?” Colton gestures to the food tray for Ollie. It has tiny cut-up veggies and chicken. Ollie goes straight for the fruit first and shoves a fistful into his mouth.
“No, Mom had her chef prepare several for him. Something about Ollie needing a balanced diet.” I take a bite of my stir-fry.
“She’s really nice.” Picking up his fork, he starts eating his dinner as well.
“Just don’t piss her off,” I warn.
“I don’t want to piss any of you off. Can we go back to what you said before? That you know more about me than I think.”
I study his face. I don’t know what he is thinking, but he looks serious. I probably should lie to him. I’ve just never been into doing that. Lies create other lies. The truth is what it is. No one can ever hide from it.
“I know who you really are and that Ollie is your brother,” I state bluntly.
He goes white and rigid. For a second, he just stares at me like he thinks he heard me wrong. He drops his fork and gets to his feet so fast that it makes Ollie jump.
“You what? How do you know that?” He looks around wildly. He starts unbuckling Ollie from his high chair. Ollie is pulling at the food he is trying to move.
“I don’t think he is done eating. You should let him finish.” I place my hand over Colton’s to stop him. He’s not leaving.
Colton glances at me and then back at the tray. Sitting heavily back in his chair, he takes a couple of deep breaths. Five in total. Good, that will keep him from a panic attack.
“Do the others know?” He grabs his napkin and plays with it, just like he did with the dish towel.
“No. We’ll have to tell them at some point.” I gesture to his plate. “Finish your dinner.”
He cocks his head to the side and stares at me. “You aren’t upset that I lied to you?”
“No. Just don’t do it again. I don’t like lies. I’m sure you have your reasons. Tell me.”
He shakes his head. “All I’ll say is that it was not a good environment for Ollie. You don’t need to be involved. I basically kidnapped my baby brother and took him across state lines. You could get into trouble just by knowing about it.”
“I’m not worried about that. Neither should you.”
He shakes his head and goes back to eating. But every few seconds, his eyes flick toward Ollie. Toward the door. Like he’s mapping out the fastest way to get them both out of here if he has to. The thought hits me low in the stomach because I know that look. He’s thinking about running. And I can’t blame him. Everything about this has to seem insane from his side. But the idea of him leaving still twists something ugly inside me. I want to tell him not to go. I want to tell him he belongs here. With me. Instead, I force myself to stay quiet. Because if he stays, it has to be his choice.
Chapter 10
Colton
He knows. Fuck. He knows who I really am. The forged papers. The fake background. None of it was enough. I knew they weren’t perfect, but I thought they were good enough to buy me time. Apparently not. I’m going to have to start over. Again.
The thought crashes into me so hard I can barely breathe around it. I only have twelve hundred dollars left. That won’t get us far. Not with everything costing so much more than I thought it would. And all of our stuff is here. Everything.
I knew I shouldn’t have come. I knew I shouldn’t have let Ronan bulldoze his way into my life and my business and make me feel safe enough to stop looking over my shoulder every second. Panic starts climbing up my throat. I have to think. And then I have to leave.
“Don’t,” he says, finishing his last bite.
